Tiger Woods has revealed what he said to Rory McIlroy in a message after what happened at the US Open as the Northern Irishman missed out on securing his fifth major title.
There is so much intrigue surrounding how Rory McIlroy will fare at The Open Championship this week, with the 35-year-old only returning to golf at the Scottish Open last week after taking a few weeks off.
Of course, the reason for his absence was the manner of how he lost out on winning the US Open at Pinehurst, with McIlroy making bogey on three of the final four holes to present Bryson DeChambeau with the chance to secure his second major title.
The agony for McIlroy was clear as DeChambeau holed the winning putt. DeChambeau was left surprised to hear that McIlroy left the course almost immediately after he won. And the former world number one would take some time away from the game before returning at The Renaissance Club last week.
Tiger Woods shares what he messaged Rory McIlroy after US Open
Tiger Woods has actually finished second seven times in his major championship career, so he may have an idea of what McIlroy has been going through. And in his press conference ahead of The Open this week, the American shared what he said to McIlroy in the wake of what happened in North Carolina.
“I just sent him a nice text. I waited a week before I sent it, I just wanted to let it calm down and I knew he was being besieged by a lot of things going on. I let it cool down for a week and sent him a nice text and that’s it,” he said.
“I think he played last week and now he’s playing this week.
“I just basically [said] as you know I’m your friend, I know this is a difficult moment, we have all been there as champions, we all lose. Unfortunately it just happened. The raw emotion of it is still there and it’s going to be there for some time and the faster he is able to get on the horse and back in contention like he did last week the better it is for him.”
All eyes on how McIlroy fares at Royal Troon
It is a positive that the next major has arrived so quickly, as it presents McIlroy with a golden opportunity banish those demons. Should he win at Royal Troon, much of that pain from the US Open will evaporate.
The problem McIlroy faces is that there is likely to be one thing in the back of his mind should he find himself in contention on Sunday – and that will be how he finished at Pinehurst. He would not be human if it did not come into his thinking at some stage.
He will only truly overcome those concerns if he wins one of the sport’s biggest prizes. There is no question at all that he has the game to do it, but it will only be if he finds himself in that position again that he will really find out whether he is ready to bounce back.
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